NAIA Football In 1966 Waynesburg College went 11–0 after a 9–0 regular season record. In December 1966 Waynesburg defeated New Mexico Highlands in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the playoff game and defeated Whitewater Wisconsin in the NAIA Champion Bowl at Tulsa Oklahoma.
NCAA Football Due to relatively short seasons through most of
college football history, the
list of undefeated Division I football teams includes dozens of teams. The highest level of college football, the
Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (introduced as Division I-A in 1978), did not use a playoff to determine a champion prior to the introduction of the four-team
College Football Playoff (CFP) in
2014, later expanded to 12 teams beginning in
2024. The system replaced by the CFP relied on a combination of polls and computer rankings to choose two teams to play one
title game in a system known as the
Bowl Championship Series. Prior to 1992, no official attempt was made to match up the top two teams in a championship game, further increasing the chances of multiple teams achieving a perfect season. The record for most wins in an undefeated FBS season is 16–0 accomplished in
2025 by
Indiana. Following that the record is 15–0 accomplished in
2018 by
Clemson, in
2019 by
LSU, in
2022 by
Georgia, and in
2023 by
Michigan, and 14–0, accomplished in
2002 by
Ohio State, twice in
2009 by
Boise State and
Alabama, in
2010 by
Auburn, and in
2013 by
Florida State. The
University of Washington's FBS record 64-game unbeaten streak (including ties) included five straight perfect seasons from 1909 to 1913. The
University of Oklahoma's FBS record 47 game winning streak included three straight perfect seasons from 1954 to 1956. Many teams had undefeated seasons in which they never allowed another team to score a point against them. The 1901–02 Michigan Wolverines football team outscored its opponents 550–0.
NCAA Division I Basketball Men Before the establishment of the
National Invitation Tournament in 1938 and the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1939, perfect seasons were more common; each season consisted of fewer games and top teams from different parts of the country might never meet. Eight teams have completed perfect seasons, including postseason tournament victories, since the tournament era began in 1938: •
1939 LIU Blackbirds (24–0) —
NIT champion, which at the time was more prestigious than the NCAA tournament •
1956 San Francisco Dons (29–0) — NCAA champion •
1957 North Carolina Tar Heels (32–0) — NCAA champion •
1964 UCLA Bruins (30–0) — NCAA champion •
1967 UCLA Bruins (30–0) — NCAA champion •
1972 UCLA Bruins (30–0) — NCAA champion •
1973 UCLA Bruins (30–0) — NCAA champion •
1976 Indiana Hoosiers (32–0) — NCAA champion In addition, four other teams in the tournament era had unbeaten records, but did not play in any postseason tournament: • 1940
Seton Hall Pirates (19–0) — not invited to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT. •
1944 Army Cadets (15–0) — not invited to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT. (Given that this season was during World War II, it is also possible that Army chose to turn down tournament invitations.) •
1954 Kentucky Wildcats (25–0) — declined a bid to the NCAA Tournament due to an NCAA ruling that graduate students could not compete. • 1973
NC State Wolfpack (27–0) — ineligible for postseason competition due to rule violations earlier that season. The UCLA Bruins are the only team to have back-to-back perfect seasons (1971–1972, 1972–1973), and all four of the college's perfect seasons were under Hall of Fame head coach
John Wooden. Additionally, under Wooden, UCLA had a record
88-game winning streak, from 1971 to 1974. The following teams completed a perfect regular season, but lost in the
NCAA tournament or other postseason action: •
1939 Loyola Ramblers (finished regular season 20–0; lost in the NIT final to
LIU and finish 21–1 overall.) •
1941 Seton Hall Pirates (finished regular season 19–0; lost in the NIT semifinals to
LIU and third-place game to CCNY and finish 20–2 overall.) •
1951 Columbia Lions (finished regular season 20–0; lost in the
first round to
Illinois and finish 21–1 overall.) •
1961 Ohio State Buckeyes (finished regular season 23–0; lost in the
championship game to
Cincinnati and finish 27–1 overall.) •
1968 Houston Cougars (finished regular season 28–0; lost the in the
Final Four to eventual champion
UCLA and in the consolation game to
Ohio State and finish 31–2 overall.) •
1968 St. Bonaventure Bonnies (finished regular season 22–0; lost in the
Sweet Sixteen to
North Carolina and in the consolation game to
Columbia and finish 23–2 overall.) •
1971 Penn Quakers (finished the regular season 26–0; lost in the
Elite Eight to
Villanova and finish 28–1 overall.) •
1971 Marquette Warriors (finished regular season 26–0; lost in the
Sweet Sixteen to
Ohio State and finished 28–1 overall.) •
1975 Indiana Hoosiers (finished regular season 29–0; lost in the
Elite Eight to
Kentucky and finished 31–1 overall.) •
1976 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (entered the tournament 28–0; lost in the
Final Four to
Michigan and in the consolation game to
UCLA and finished 31–2 overall.) •
1979 Indiana State Sycamores (entered the tournament 29–0; but lost in the
championship game to
Michigan State and finished 33–1 overall.) •
1979 Alcorn State Braves (entered the NIT tournament 27–0; lost in the second round of the NIT to eventual champion
Indiana and finished 28–1 overall.) •
1991 UNLV Runnin' Rebels (entered the tournament 30–0; lost in the
Final Four to eventual champion
Duke and finished 34–1 overall.) •
2004 Saint Joseph's Hawks (finished regular season 27–0; lost to
Xavier in the quarterfinals of the
2004 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. They lost in the
Elite Eight to
Oklahoma State and finished 30–2 overall.) •
2014 Wichita State Shockers (entered the tournament 34–0; lost to eventual runner-up
Kentucky in the
round of 32 and finished 35–1 overall.) •
2015 Kentucky Wildcats (entered the tournament 34–0; lost in the
Final Four to
Wisconsin and finished 38–1 overall.) •
2021 Gonzaga Bulldogs (entered the tournament 26–0; lost in the
championship game to
Baylor and finished 31–1 overall.) •
2026 Miami RedHawks (finished regular season 31–0; lost to
UMass in the quarterfinals of the
2026 MAC men's basketball tournament. They lost in the
round of 64 to
Tennessee and finished 32–2 overall.)
Women In the women's game, the following national championship teams have had perfect records since the
AIAW began sponsoring a championship tournament in 1972 (which was followed by the
NCAA tournament in 1982): • 1973
Immaculata Mighty Macs (20–0) • 1975
Delta State Lady Statesmen (28–0) • 1981
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (34–0) •
1986 Texas Longhorns (34–0) •
1995 UConn Huskies (35–0) •
1998 Tennessee Lady Vols (39–0) •
2002 UConn Huskies (39–0) •
2009 UConn Huskies (39–0) •
2010 UConn Huskies (39–0) •
2012 Baylor Lady Bears (40–0) •
2014 UConn Huskies (40–0) •
2016 UConn Huskies (38–0) •
2024 South Carolina Gamecocks (38–0) The following teams completed perfect regular seasons, but lost in the
NCAA tournament or other postseason action: • The 1983
Oral Roberts Lady Titans (now nicknamed Golden Eagles) finished the regular season 24–0, but were not invited to
the NCAA tournament. They played in the
National Women's Invitational Tournament, losing to
Memphis State (now known as Memphis) in the second round. After winning a consolation game against
Weber State, they finished the season 26–1. • The
1990 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters entered the NCAA Tournament at 28–0, but lost in the Final Four to
Auburn to finish 32–1. • The
Vermont Catamounts were unbeaten entering the NCAA Tournament in both 1992 (29–0) and 1993 (28–0). They lost in the first round to
George Washington in
1992 and
Rutgers in
1993. • The
1997 UConn Huskies entered the NCAA Tournament at 30–0, but lost in the final of the Midwest Regional to eventual national champion
Tennessee, finishing 33–1. • The
1998 Liberty Lady Flames entered the NCAA Tournament 28–0, but were seeded No. 16 in the Mideast Region and matched against Tennessee, with the Lady Vols crushing the Lady Flames 102–58. • The
2003 UConn Huskies finished the regular season at 29–0, but lost to
Villanova in the final of the Big East tournament, ending their then-record winning streak at 70 games. The Huskies went on to win the
NCAA tournament, finishing 37–1. • The 2007
Duke Blue Devils finished the regular season at 29–0, but lost in the semifinals of the
ACC tournament to
North Carolina State. In the
NCAA tournament, they lost in the semifinals of the Greensboro Regional to
Rutgers to finish 32–2. • The
2010 Nebraska Cornhuskers finished the regular season at 29–0, but lost in the semifinals of the
Big 12 Tournament to
Texas A&M. In the
NCAA tournament, they lost in the semifinals of the Kansas City Regional to
Kentucky to finish 32–2. • The
2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish entered the NCAA Tournament at 32–0 and lost in the championship game to UConn, finishing 37–1. • The
2015 Princeton Tigers entered the NCAA Tournament at 30–0 and lost in the second round to
Maryland to finish 31–1. • The
2017 UConn Huskies entered the NCAA Tournament at 32–0 and lost in the national semifinals to
Mississippi State, ending their most recent record winning streak at 111 games. The Huskies finished 36–1. • The
2018 UConn Huskies entered the NCAA Tournament at 32–0 but lost to
Notre Dame to finish 36–1. • The
2026 UConn Huskies entered the NCAA Tournament at 34–0 but lost to
South Carolina, ending a 54-game winning streak. The Huskies finished 38–1. Notably, the 2015–16 season saw
all three NCAA women's champions finish with unbeaten seasons. In
Division II,
Lubbock Christian went 34–0. In
Division III,
Thomas More went 33–0 for the second straight season.
NCAA Ice Hockey Among schools in the top level of men's ice hockey, the 1969–70
Cornell Big Red went 29–0–0 in the University Division (the predecessor to today's Division I) en route to a national championship. Since Cornell's 29–0–0 season in 1969–70, the closest Division I Men's Ice Hockey Team to having a perfect season was the 1992–93
Maine Black Bears, who finished that year at 42–1–2, including a national title game victory against
Lake Superior State. Their only loss came on February 19, 1993, against
Boston University, where they lost 7–6 in overtime, and their only ties were on October 24 against
Providence, 3–3, and on January 15 against
Clarkson, 4–4. The last men's team to finish unbeaten and untied and be national champions was the 1983–84
Bemidji State Beavers (31–0–0), who were then competing in
Division II, a level of competition that no longer conducts a championship. The 1955–56 Clarkson Golden Knights were undefeated and untied (23–0–0), but skipped the NCAA tournament because as the team had seniors with four years of college play which was against NCAA tournament rules, although not
regular season rules, at that time. The 1967–68
Iona Gaels went 16–0–0 in their inaugural season as an independent in Division III, but did not participate in a national championship as none existed for Division III at that time. The most recent unbeaten and untied season in NCAA ice hockey at the highest level was in
2012–13 when
the Minnesota Golden Gophers became the first NCAA women's team ever to accomplish the feat (41–0–0).
ACHA Hockey The 2007–08
University of Illinois Fighting Illini, a club team, are the only
American Collegiate Hockey Association team to record a perfect season with a record of 38–0–0.
NAIA baseball In 2025, the
LSU Shreveport Pilots went 59–0 on their way to an NAIA championship, becoming the first recorded team at any level of college baseball to finish a season unbeaten. Their team
earned run average was more than a run better than that of any other NAIA team; they also led the NAIA in fielding percentage, were second in runs per game, and were third in team batting average. ==Canadian collegiate sports==